A FIELD GUIDE TO DIGITAL FLIES

Scientists mapped a fly’s nervous system.Then somebody plugged it into Doom.

Fruit fly wiring diagrams are showing up in games, desktop pets, and strange little experiments. Here’s what people are building, and how much of the fly is actually in there.

Fruit Fly 101 Explore the demos

Fruit fly illustration · not a simulation

SPECIES / DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTERDESTINATION / THE INTERNET

REAL WIRING. UNEXPECTED PLACES.GAMESDESKTOP PETSVIRTUAL BODIESQUESTIONABLE SIDE QUESTS

01 THE ARCADE

Tiny brains.
Enormous side quests.

Someone saw a connectome and thought,
“But can it run Doom?”
Then the internet kept going.

GamesMaleCNS

DOOMFLY

A Doom arena with a MaleCNS wiring diagram in the control loop.

Whole graphPythonViZDoom

Peek under the hood

Doom frames stimulate modeled sensory inputs; activity in retained MaleCNS v1.0 wiring reaches a fixed button interface for turning, movement, and firing. The repository also describes an experimental dopamine-gated rule that changes a small set of connections.

The boundary: Its README says the current training candidate failed its visual, conditioning, and survival validation gates; this catalog did not run it.

Read the full field note ↗

GitHub ↗README reviewed

Desktop petsFlyWire + MaleCNS

DesktopFly

A 3D fly that wanders across a macOS desktop.

Selected circuitmacOSWindows

Peek under the hood

A macOS desktop creature whose README describes spiking simulations built from FlyWire brain wiring and a MaleCNS brain-to-leg network, alongside modeled senses, joints, and behavior.

The boundary: The connectome supplies wiring; the README also describes modeled body and behavioral layers. It was not run for this catalog.

Read the full field note ↗

6 related ports

GitHub ↗README reviewed

GamesMaleCNS

Help the Fly Escape

Rearrange a tiny house and see which simulated flies find the exit.

Selected circuitWeb

Peek under the hood

A browser game where the player places household objects, releases a swarm, and can follow a fly or inspect its brain while the README describes simulated neural movement.

The boundary: The README presents an interactive simulation, not biological validation; the linked page was only checked for an HTTP 200 response.

Read the full field note ↗

GitHub ↗Open demo ↗

GamesMaleCNS

Fly64

A MaleCNS model wired into Super Mario 64.

Scope not specifiedmacOSSuper Mario 64

Peek under the hood

A macOS-specific project that connects a fly-brain model based on MaleCNS data to a decompiled Super Mario 64 build.

The boundary: The README documents setup requirements and a local server, but does not establish gameplay performance or biological fidelity.

Read the full field note ↗

GitHub ↗README reviewed

GamesFlyWire

Fly Brain plays Snake

Sugar and looming signals steer a full-connectome Snake loop.

Whole graphPythonWeb

Peek under the hood

A local Snake server using a reported full FlyWire connectome and a Shiu et al. leaky-integrate-and-fire model. Its README maps nearby walls and body to looming inputs and apples to sugar inputs.

The boundary: The repository calls out local data from a sibling directory; this catalog did not inspect that data or run the game.

Read the full field note ↗

GitHub ↗README reviewed

GamesMaleCNS

FlyTris

A connectome-constrained mushroom body takes on Tetris.

Selected circuitPython

Peek under the hood

A closed-loop Tetris experiment centered on a MaleCNS mushroom-body circuit and a plasticity rule that the README distinguishes from open-loop rendering demos.

The boundary: The project describes a model and learning experiment; source inspection is not an independent assessment of learning or fly cognition.

Read the full field note ↗

GitHub ↗README reviewed

Source-checked Sep 10, 2026. These are independent experiments, not validated digital animals. Covers are original editorial illustrations, not gameplay captures.

Explore 37 projects + 6 ports

02 UNDER THE HOOD

How does a wiring diagram
press the fire button?

A connectome is a map of connections. Getting from that map to a game takes a few very human decisions.

A SIGNAL’S ROUND TRIPILLUSTRATED FLOW · NOT A SIMULATION

THE NEXT FRAME RETURNS TO THE START

ENGINEERED · A GAME, NOT A NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

First, give the fly something to see.

A game supplies an image. In Doomfly, each ViZDoom frame becomes a proxy for what modeled fly photoreceptors might receive. It is not a recording of a fly looking at Doom.

PSEUDOCODEframe = game.get_screen()// inspect a stage above

MODELED · SENSORY MAPPING & INPUT GAIN

Pixels are not spikes. Someone has to translate.

Brightness and color are mapped to sensory input. Which pixels reach which cells, the strength of that input, and its timing are modeling decisions. The connectome does not supply a game controller.

PSEUDOCODEinput_current = encode(frame)// inspect a stage above

MEASURED WIRING + MODELED DYNAMICS

Real connections. Chosen neuron equations.

Measured neuron-to-neuron connections constrain the graph. A model such as leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) decides how activity evolves and when a neuron spikes. Anatomy gives the routes, not every rule of the traffic.

PSEUDOCODEspikes = model.step(wiring, input_current)// inspect a stage above

ENGINEERED · NEURON-TO-ACTION MAPPING

A neuron has never heard of a fire button.

The builder chooses which neural activity becomes an action. Doomfly maps selected descending-neuron activity to turning, movement, and firing. Those assignments are engineered; they are not established natural motor functions.

PSEUDOCODEbuttons = readout(selected_spikes)// inspect a stage above

ENGINEERED LOOP · LEARNING NEEDS CONTROLS

The game changes. The next frame comes back.

Actions change the world, creating the next sensory input. Some projects add reward and plasticity. Changing weights is not, by itself, evidence that a fly-like agent learned the task.

PSEUDOCODEgame.step(buttons) # next frame, same loop// inspect a stage above

Measured Modeled EngineeredRead Doomfly’s actual loop ↗

The map is real. The little guy playing Doom is a model.

A full graph is not a full animal. A neuron count is not a score for biological realism. And a changing weight is not proof of learning. Doomfly’s own README reports failed validation gates for its current learning candidate. That kind of candor belongs in the field guide, too.

03 FOLLOW THE WIRES

It’s a small world.
The brains are related.

Different datasets. Shared models. A whole family of desktop pets. Pick a starting point and follow the connections.

These projects list MaleCNS as a data source. Sharing a dataset does not mean sharing code.

Original source ↗

uses MaleCNSDOOMFLYGames uses MaleCNSDesktopFlyDesktop pets uses MaleCNSHelp the Fly EscapeGames uses MaleCNSFly64Games uses MaleCNSFlyTrisGames uses MaleCNSFLY / MINEGames uses MaleCNSfly-brainEmbodied flies uses MaleCNSFLYBOARDArt & oddities uses MaleCNSFLYBOARD (NullLabTests)Art & oddities uses MaleCNSFruit fly brainEmbodied flies uses MaleCNSmalecnsTools

These projects list FlyWire as a data source. Their neuron models, graph selections, and goals differ.

Original source ↗

uses FlyWireDesktopFlyDesktop pets uses FlyWireFly Brain plays SnakeGames uses FlyWireFlyweightGames uses FlyWireFly-By-WireEmbodied flies uses FlyWireflymcGames uses FlyWireRuby Project: I Have No Wings and I Must FlyGames uses FlyWireInfinite SugarArt & oddities uses FlyWireflychipTools uses FlyWireDrosophila brain modelResearch uses FlyWireCodexTools uses FlyWirefafbseg-pyTools uses FlyWirewebgpu-flyEmbodied flies uses FlyWireFly Brain on MusicArt & oddities uses FlyWiremaking-fly-play-chessGames uses FlyWireFly Brain / ChessGames uses FlyWireTalkingFlyArt & oddities uses FlyWireEmergent IndividualityEmbodied flies uses FlyWireFruit Fly LaboratoryEmbodied flies uses FlyWireFruit Fly Brain Flight ControllerEmbodied flies uses FlyWireFlySimEmbodied flies uses FlyWireBIO — Biological Intelligence SandboxTools uses FlyWireconnectome-fly-closedloopEmbodied flies uses FlyWireEmulation of the Drosophila Fly BrainResearch

Ports and derivatives identified in their sources. A port is listed as a relationship, not a new scientific result.

Original source ↗

port / derivativegnatDesktop pets port / derivativerealflyDesktop pets port / derivativedesktopfly (Linux)Desktop pets port / derivativeDesktopFly (Windows)Desktop pets port / derivativeDesktop Vibe Fly 4WinDesktop pets port / derivativeSiliconFlyDesktop pets

Only explicit model relationships recorded in our sources are shown here. This is not a complete dependency graph.

Original source ↗

builds on modelFly Brain plays SnakeGames builds on modelmaking-fly-play-chessGames builds on modelFruit Fly LaboratoryEmbodied flies builds on modelEmulation of the Drosophila Fly BrainResearch

FOR YOUR NEXT TWENTY OPEN TABS

Back to the source.

The research shelf

01 / THE MALE NERVOUS SYSTEM

Scientists mapped a fly’s nervous system.Then somebody plugged it into Doom.

Tiny brains.
Enormous side quests.

DOOMFLY

DesktopFly

Help the Fly Escape

Fly64

Fly Brain plays Snake

FlyTris

How does a wiring diagram
press the fire button?

First, give the fly something to see.

Pixels are not spikes. Someone has to translate.

Real connections. Chosen neuron equations.

A neuron has never heard of a fire button.

The game changes. The next frame comes back.

The map is real. The little guy playing Doom is a model.

It’s a small world.
The brains are related.

Back to the source.

MaleCNS: the whole circuit, brain to body.

FlyWire: a brain, painstakingly mapped.

A model you can read, not just watch.

Scientists mapped a fly’s nervous system.Then somebody plugged it into Doom.

Tiny brains.Enormous side quests.

DOOMFLY↗

DesktopFly↗

Help the Fly Escape↗

Fly64↗

Fly Brain plays Snake↗

FlyTris↗

How does a wiring diagrampress the fire button?

First, give the fly something to see.

Pixels are not spikes. Someone has to translate.

Real connections. Chosen neuron equations.

A neuron has never heard of a fire button.

The game changes. The next frame comes back.

The map is real. The little guy playing Doom is a model.

It’s a small world.The brains are related.

Back to the source.

MaleCNS: the whole circuit, brain to body.

FlyWire: a brain, painstakingly mapped.

A model you can read, not just watch.

Tiny brains.
Enormous side quests.

DOOMFLY

DesktopFly

Help the Fly Escape

Fly64

Fly Brain plays Snake

FlyTris

How does a wiring diagram
press the fire button?

It’s a small world.
The brains are related.